When I was considering calling this blog evangelical, I checked out its definition, as opposed to Christian or other descriptors. Wikipedia has a great article on evangelicalism- it places it next to less fun terms like fundamentalism, unitarianism, pentacostalism, and others. Just scanning through the definition of fundamentalism and finding its emphasis on dispensationalism and then reading technical details about that underscores the fact that I'm not the theological expert. I'm not uneducated, but I'm no seminarian either.

(Though there is a really cool chart on the branches of Christianity you should check out.)

My interest in the seven years since I committed myself to Christ has been in The Bible, secondary books like The Imitation of Christ, Practicing the Presence of God, and commentaries by Matthew Henry and (a well known commentator I can't remember I'll have to look at when I get home!). I've also enjoyed Spurgeon's writings and more recently Calvin's Sermons on the Beatitudes.

(What a nerd I am! Who reads Calvin? But he was way more inspiring than I expected. Check him out.)

Back to Evangelicalism- there are four essential evangelical beliefs or convictions:

Being born again - this always makes me think of Nicodemus and Jesus, as well as William James' idea of the once and twice born- he said some people were essentially psychologically the same at age 16 as age 50- others are somehow incomplete and need a psychic rearrangement- I am the latter, I had St. Augustine's God-shaped hole and ultimately needed the Jesus of the cross to complete me.

The Bible as the prime and inerrant authority of our Faith. I'm amazed at any Christian who disagrees with this. First, the historical integrity and reliability of the Bible is much stronger than most people know (see The Case for Christ for a lawyer's strict examination of the evidence). Second, from a logical perspective, if we will only accept some parts of the Bible and not others, then we elevate our judgment over God's- that is not the spirit of surrender or obedience- and how can you tell if you belong to Him? You obey Him. Hmmm. Sounds like the argumentative Bible-doubter can't be one of His sheep.

Missionary work- both abroad and local personal relationship- great commission

Centrality of the cross- salvation is crucial, literally- Christ's sacrifice on the cross- as Paul said, we preach Christ crucified - This is definitely impossible to grasp except experientially, and that comes from deep conviction of personal sin, which comes from the Holy Spirit. Paul says preachers merely reap the harvest that Christ has already sown- then perhaps preaching Christ crucified is the central scythe in our harvest.

I'm an outdoorsman. Sometimes. Other days I'd rather stay inside, drink coffee, read, play guitar and sleep. But I've mountaineered up 12,000 and 14,000 foot peaks, I've rock climbing, hiked overnight, run through canyons, blah blah blah.

I like survival shows. Survivorman. Man vs. Wild.

It was easy to like Survivorman's Les Stroud- he's a somewhat pudgy Canadian who did his own filming ("He remains the only producer in the history of television to produce an internationally broadcast series entirely written, videotaped and hosted alone."- Les Stroud Online). He likes sunset shots and didgeridoo soundtracks.

Man vs. Wild's star, Bear Grylls, is a dynamic, fit ex-special-forces Brit who relies on a big support crew and, in the spirit of Matthew McConaughey, finds a reason in every episode to take off his shirt. Bear seemed like the kind of guy who's a lot more likely to charm and steal your woman. So I didn't watch too many of his shows, until recently.

Not only was I happy to find that he didn't find a need to take off his shirt in every episode, but he revealed (in the Patagonia episode, I believe) that he was a born again Christian. Les Stroud frequently emphasizes that a big part of survival is positive mental attitude- you can't give up. And what's better to sustain you when cold and hungry, to ward off despair, than Faith? That's what keeps Bear going in those difficult times.

So now I like him. I admire him for purposefully throwing that into one of his episodes, as well as his blog. Here's something from his blog about his faith:

"The final part of the equation is my Christian faith…I look at this as the thread that binds all these other elements together. I pray daily for my family and we also have little quiet times together, and I pray hard when out filming for safety, good judgement and for protection in all the dangers."

Check out Bear Grylls' Blog here. And he's on Jimmy Kimmel here.

Anyhow, what was the point? I've talked a lot with my parents from time to time about what a Christian is called to do...

• Are we all supposed to go out like missionaries from Acts?
• Or is it really ok to be a Christian in whatever job you have, and then how actively should you witness to coworkers?

One thing is for sure, whatever job you're in, you can't hide being a Christian. But it's easy to do. I've done it. Even if you restrain yourself from engaging in gossip or cursing and taking part in or validating sinful activities (talking about pornography, commenting on hot women that walk by, etc.), that's great and essential, but I don't call that witnessing. It may be part of it, but it's not enough. When someone finds out you're a Christian, does that mean your "life has been a witness" to them? I don't think so- I think that 'my life is my witness' idea is a cop out, because it's no substitute for stating your beliefs clearly, and because witnessing takes guts, and because a lot of we Christians take the east way out in this cushy luxury society.

Even if people find out you're a Christian, they may not assume you believe everything the Bible says. There's so much of the buffet approach to faith amongst Christians ("I'll take some of this and some of that but... ooh, I don't like that stuff.") that I don't think nonbelievers will assume you believe everything in the Bible, especially the controversial things. More importantly, they may not really know Christian theology. It's not that we just choose to believe and then try to be good. A lot of people, believers and nonbelievers, believe in certain things and try to be good people. The unique thing about Christianity is that we grasp our own sin, we know we are not good, we know we cannot fix it, we believe Jesus fixed it, we have faith in that, we receive the power of the Holy Spirit as a result, and then we try to be good and obedient not in our own power but in that power of the Holy Spirit.

But it's a fine line- should we walk around the office and tell everyone unbidden the articles of our faith? I don't know... I think we need tact and wisdom. We should approach people as individuals, have friendships that we "work out" prayerfully with as much concern as we have for our own salvation. Everyone we come into contact with has different hang-ups, needs and styles- some are more open than others- we can't know with each person (and I'm not as gifted as some people at individualizing my approach to people) exactly what they need to see or hear from you before they'll care what your beliefs are.

People certainly won't listen to a hypocrite, but no one's perfect, not even a Christian- some people are so stuck on this that they can't listen. Most are more open if they know that you don't personally condemn them, that you care, that you're smart and not blindly rigid. But I don't have all the answers. Every Christian is a work in progress and everyone we befriend is different. We must pray and rely on God's wisdom and timing. Fortunately, we have examples from Acts and in Paul of people who didn't prepare speeches ahead of time but spoke in the Spirit. Know your audience, be humble and prayerful, and I believe the right words will come to you.

One caveat- unless you talk with a lot of unbelievers, you won't know what their concerns or objections are. I confess to having been stumped on the spot at times- it's one thing to read a book by an expert about the historicity and authenticity of the books of the Bible and nod your head knowingly while reading, but quite another to answer and educate a nonbeliever who is loudly proclaims his confidence in the unreliability of our most holy book. Maybe you forgot the details of the evidence that made you so confident while reading. Maybe you're just emotionally thrown by the fact that they're so confident in ignorant opinions. Next time you'll be more prepared. So you have to go fall down some. Practice. A novice witness is like a novice anything- not very good.

This blog owes its birth to Hugh Hewitt.

My mom gave me his book In, But Not Of: A Guide to Christian Ambition for Christmas, and I've been consuming it rapidly. It's one of the best written books I've read in years. It makes me think he's read William Zinsser's On Writing Well.

I knew Hugh was into blogging, but I laughed when after a hundred injunctions of weight, depth and cosmic import, I turned the page to find an entire chapter called "Start a Weblog." I'm not saying I disagree about blogging's important - it's just that it's still such a new movement in human history, compared to reading and understanding the history of Western Civilization or joining your local church and helping to save souls, seeing blogging put front and center was surprising- but again, not wrong.

Hugh said that no front running Evangelical blogger has emerged, and if there were one that could talk about the modern world and real life as a Christian with humor and insight, well that would be a big deal.

I thought, why not me?

I've already started a dozen blogs and kept writing in at least four of them. I'm a deep guy. I'm a funny guy. I'm a Christian. I think a lot and struggle daily to work out my salvation with fear and trembling... why not me?

So you've inspired me Mr. Hewitt. Here we go.

- Brian Carter